Morningstar Research Inc. has introduced the Morningstar PALTrak Segregated Funds Module, the industry’s first central database of contract- and fund-level data for seg funds, the research company announced Thursday.

PALTrak is one of the most widely used and recognized mutual fund research tools in the industry.

Financial professionals in the insurance distribution channel can screen for and compare contract features and common fund attributes to assist in recommending the most suitable segregated funds to clients.

The seg funds module features a single source of contract-level data such as automatic and manual reset options and guarantees, maximum age allowed to purchase, Guaranteed Minimum Withdrawal Benefit-specific data, and guarantees on death and maturity to streamline the research process and save time.

The module also features fund-level data including performance, asset allocation and proprietary tools like the Morningstar Rating.

Users can limit searches to contract-level data, or combine them with fund-level data to optimize their research and find the most suitable matches for clients.

The contract summary report summarizes the key contract features and underlying fund attributes of individual segregated funds. The performance analysis graph depicts the growth of $10,000 of the underlying fund and plots death benefit guarantees after resets to illustrate their effects on the overall market value of the contract. The report can be customized to include dealer or managing general agency logos.

“Advisors need tools and data to screen the more than 3,000 segregated funds available for sale in Canada,” said Scott Mackenzie, president and CEO of Morningstar Research Inc., in a release. “The new PALTrak module offers advisors access to the most complete database of contract-level data enabling them to make truly meaningful comparisons among segregated funds and evaluate contract features.”

The new module can be licensed to individual advisors or enterprises, and can be purchased as an add-on to PALTrak or as a stand-alone module.

IE